Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of submerged combustion melters and apparatus, and methods of use, and more specifically to submerged combustion melters, and methods of operating same, particularly for melting glass-forming materials, mineral wool forming materials, and other non-metallic inorganic materials.
Background Art
A submerged combustion melter (SCM) may be employed to melt glass batch and/or waste glass materials to produce molten glass, or may melt mineral wool feedstock (basalt rock, sometimes referred to as lava rock) to make mineral or rock wool, by passing oxygen, oxygen-enriched mixtures, or air along with a liquid, gaseous and/or particulate fuel (some of which may be in one or more of the feedstock materials), directly into a molten pool of glass or other material, usually through burners submerged in a turbulent melt pool. The introduction of high flow rates of products of combustion of the oxidant and fuel into the molten material, and the expansion of the gases during submerged combustion (SC), cause rapid melting of the feedstock and much turbulence and foaming. Conventional melters operate primarily by combusting fuel and oxidant above the molten pool of melt, and are very laminar in flow characteristics compared to SCMs.
Residence time of the material being melted in the SCM is critical to achieving good quality product. Channeling (feedstock exiting the SCM before being well mixed or melted) is problematic as it is wasteful and decreases melt quality. It would be advantageous to maximize mixing and/or heating (increase temperature) in SCMs in order to improve the quality (mainly determined by homogeneity) of the melt from an SCM.